new beginnings
by ladyriddle2
Summary: harry is betrayed and meets some elves can he forgive those around him and go home? or will he choose the easy path and stay banished forever.
1. new beginnings

New beginnings.

The sun slowly disappeared behind the trees, covering the forest in a warm amber glow. Harry savoured the sweet scent of the forest, the feel of a cool breeze ruffling his hair and the complete stillness of the forest. He wanted it to last as long as possible. As his feet trod the well-known path, a large red and gold phoenix glided elegantly in to sight, sweeping silently upwards to settle on a near by branch. Harry approached the tree thinking he recognised the bird but as he reached out to stroke its soft plumage the phoenix took of with a graceful beat of its powerful wings and flew out of sight. An urgent panic suddenly rose with in Harry he didn't know why but he knew he couldn't lose sight of the bird not now. The forest on either side of him turned into a brown and black blur as he began to sprint after the phoenix. Harry ran for what seemed like an eternity, all the while the phoenix stayed just out of his reach, the forest around him slowly started to get darker as the trees started to get closer together, the trees them selves were starting to look more twisted and there seemed to be a faint mist covering the floor, Harry started to slow down before coming to a halt in the middle of a dark circular clearing. Looking around Harry noticed that there were grey stones placed in a semi circle around the clearing, he walked over to the first one and kneeling down his stomach gave a horrible jolt as he realised they were tomb stones but the thing that shocked him the most was what was written on the stone, Lilly potter. Harry quickly jumped up and ran over to the next stone, already knowing what would be written there, when he knelt down his fears were confirmed, as stamped across the front was, James potter. With a desperate cry Harry ran around the clearing reading the names on the other tombstones by the time he had read the last name tears were pouring down his face, each of the names he had read were the names of the people Harry loved most, the Weasleys, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Hermione then there were others like cedric and cho. Harry stood in the middle of the clearing not wanting to believe what he was seeing, when suddenly a high pitched and menacing voice rang out through out the clearing, it was a voice Harry knew well, a voice that hunted him at night and creped into his thoughts when ever he let his mind wonder. Even now as lord Voldemorts voice screamed the words Harry feared most he felt him self slowly beginning to lose control of hi emotions,

" Its all your fault, they all died because of you, everyone who gets close to you ends up dead, your pathetic everyone thinks you're a hero but your not your nothing no wonder they turned against you, it all your fault!" suddenly the clearing was full people, Harry's parents, Dumbledore, everyone whose name was on the tombstones as well as others, people Harry had seen being tormented in his dreams people who he had read about in the paper they were all looking accusingly at him and began to chant as one, "it all your fault." Until Harry dropped to his knees his hands pressed against his face as the lightning bolt scar on his forehead exploded with pain, the voices still ringing clearly in his head until he began to scream trying to block out the pain and the people around him, still screaming he shot into a sitting position on his bed.

Harry slowly began to pull himself together and looked around the room trying to reassure him self that it had all been a dream and that he had never left the bed and visited the wood, he relaxed slightly as he notice that the front door was still shut and there for still locked, he looked once more around the room calming himself as he took in the green and brown walls that had been made from the branches of the tree that the room was supported on, the many pieces of wooden furnisher that was dotted around the room and the soft moss that served as the floor, the large window to the left of the room showed the houses that surrounded Harry's and the noise that drifted in told him the elves were already up and going about there business. Sighing Harry got out of bed and began to get dressed knowing he would have to make an apperance sooner then later although elves were aloud to get up when they wanted the older ones normally got up as early as possible to get started on their tasks for that day. Having got dressed in his usual outfit of soft leather trousers, blue tunic and black knee high boots Harry walked through the small archway in to the living room which was also filled with white furnisher and to the front door, unlocking it he slowly descended the gold ladder on to the forest floor.

The village that was home to the elves was constructed of hundreds of houses perched high in the trees that made up the forest, all close together for safety, each house consisted of a small living room and a bed room for each member of the family, the biggest house stood to the north side of the village and consisted of a large living room and six bedrooms, three for the family members the other three for guests, this belonged to lord Zea and lady Nerine and their son Briza who was currently away visiting another elven village. The forest floor was covered in many small crop farms, two mills, one for wood the other for bread, there was also a larger building to one side were clothes were made and an armoury stood next to the library and the school. The biggest building was the main hall were the elves went to eat, have meetings and to celebrate. A small stream ran through the middle of the village with bridges positioned every few feet along. Trough out the forest there were small huts that the guards used when they patrolled as they were often gone for more then a day. The forest itself seemed to give of a faint natural glow during the day and a soft sparkle during the night. The trees never lost their leaves and it always seemed like summer even if it was snowing outside of the forest. This was not only due to the magic the elves used but also because of the many other magical creatures that lived in the forest. The elves never hunted these out of respect, they also only ever cut down a tree when it was necessary and always planted new ones in its place. It was so easy to relax in the forest, every think was peaceful and quiet, it would be heaven for everyone but Harry could never relax because every time he did he found him self back in that wood or else reliving the worst moments of his life.

As Harry walked towards the main hall he was greeted by the elves that were finishing there early morning tasks before they went to breakfast and the parents who were trying to get children ready so that they could send them straight to school when everyone had finished eating. As he returned the greetings Harry thought about the way the elves lived, Females were just as important as the males as each learned to cook, farm, fight, make clothing and do general work such as delivering messages or do house work. Both wore the same style of clothing as Harry but in a variety of different colours, except during a celebration when the women would put on their best dress and the males would put on their best shirt and trousers.

Ten minutes later Harry stood in front of the main hall where he was greeted by Muscari. Muscari was his bestfriend, they had trained together and were always placed togeather when it came to patrolling, tall like the other elves, Muscari kept his long dark brown hair in a ponytail, as was custom for elves when they had finished training, Muscari's outfit was the same as Harry's but in green and white. Muscari greeted Harry with a goofy grin, before they entered the hall to take their place among the other elves. Like the other buildings in the village, the main hall was made of wood, but in side the walls were white. One table, long enough to seat every elf in the wood and there were over a thousand, ran down the middle, chairs stood ether side with to at the head for the lord and lady, nearly all of the seats were full including the lord and lady's, while more elves rushed to fill the rest. As Harry took his seat next to Muscari, he thought back to the first time he had entered the hall, it had been full of elves when he had entered, he had froze in the doorway as all eyes had turned towards him, then Muscari had held out the seat next to him in silent invitation, which Harry had accepted gratefully, the other dinners had returned to their own conversations while Muscari had filled Harry in on the goings on in the wood, the few rules that were to be followed, the many jobs and the people who did them. Not long afterwards he and Muscari had started training, first to make clothing, then on the farms and finally to make and use weapons. He was interupted from his thoughts by Muscari, he was pointing towards lord Zea was standing at the head of the table. Harry turned so he was positioned to hear more clearly.

" I would like to remind you all that we are to move tonight, so every one must make sure they have everything they need as we will not be back until are services are no longer needed. All jobs, chores and classes are to stop at midday in order to get everything ready. I would also like to remind you that tonight and every night after is extremely important, we need to make sure everything goes to plan." Here he stopped and after slowly looking around the room he sat back down again, this was the signal for everyone to start eating again. Harry sat staring at his plate unable to eat, he had forgotten about tonight, no that was a lie he had tried to forget about tonight until he had simply pushed it to the back of his mind and refused to think about it. Shaking his head he stood up and walked back out of the hall, he knew Muscari was following him, he could also feel the eyes of the other elves watching him leave.


	2. back to the past

Back to the past.

Harry walked to the edge of the village, and then after making sure Muscari saw which direction he was going in, he started to walk through the forest enjoying the soft breeze that ruffled his hair. As he walked he slowly cleared his mind and blocked out the sounds coming from the village, this meant he was able to concentrate on the noises coming from the trees that surrounded him, the cry of some unseen bird, the soft hooves of a deer or maybe it was a unicorn, he could hear Muscari behind him and some where in front a stream and waterfall. This is what he was heading for, he knew from memory that there was a clearing with benches doted about, it was mainly used for swimming when school had finished, Harry hoped that because everyone was getting ready for tonight it would be empty. When Harry came to the clearing he walked to the nearest bench and sat staring in to the clear water, he was so deep in thought he hardly noticed Muscari sit beside him.

Neither of them spoke, Harry was slowly filling with dread. Tonight the little peace he had managed to find would be disturbed, but he also knew he would never be able to find true pace until he faced his pace. Slowly he turned to Muscari who was watching him closely, even though all the elves knew Harry had been betrayed only the lord and lady knew the full version, everyone else just knew he had had to leave his home, home Harry had not called it that for three years he had stopped calling it home unable to think about what he had lost. Sighing he looked Muscari in the eyes "I think it's about time I told you what happened." Muscari nodded to indicate that he would listen; Harry nodded back and with a heavy heart he began to relive the events that had ruined his life.

Harry was walking back from the quidditch pitch after a early morning flying session, after the events of the tri wizard tournament last year he had been flying quite a lot, normally when every one else was at still in bed, only stopping when he new it was time for breakfast then it was a mad dash up to the common room for his books before going to class, not that he ate much any more, a lack of sleep due to nightmares had made him lose his appetite. When he reached the entrance hall he was surprised to find it full of prefects and one or two teachers, when they spotted Harry they all ran into the great hall, this surprised Harry, he was use to the other houses whispering about him and edging away from him after his clam's that Voldemort had returned but the teachers all new it was the truth and yet here they were running in to the hall. Harry was slightly hurt but mainly curious as to what had gotten the teachers to act this way, propping his broom against the wall he slowly walked into the great hall and was immediately grabbed by two aurors before being dragged towards the head table. Harry looked around him, a team of aurors were standing behind the teachers and fudge the minister of magic was standing next to Dumbledore. Everyone in the hall was staring at Harry, all of them with the same look of disgust and hatred. Harry looked down and saw a black dog under the teacher's table, he recognised it at once but Sirius did not look happy to see him, he was actually growling at Harry. Then fudge cleared his throat and Harry hoped he was going to explain what was happening, but what fudge said next was not the explanation Harry wanted to hear.

"Mr Harry potter you have been found guilty of murdering Percy Weasley, in front of forty witnesses. As you can see we have your wand, which was found at the seen of the crime, the last spell that it cast was the killing curse, which has been proved in front of the witnesses here. You will now be taken straight to the ministry to await trial. Do you have any think to say in your defence?" Fudge Harry noticed had a triumphant smile on his face. Harry opened his mouth to ask if this was some sort of joke but looking around he knew no one would believe him, he closed his mouth and shuck his head sadly. Fudges smile grew bigger before he nodded to the guards that held Harry who began to lead him down the hall, just as they had reached the house tables however Harry had made up his mind, he stopped walking and ignoring the guards who were trying to force him to walk again, he closed his eyes and concentrated, a surge of electricity shot through his body forcing the aurors to let go. Harry slowly turned around and looked at Dumbledore who had drawn his wand Harry was dimly aware of the other teachers and aurors pointing there wands at him but he ignored them and searched Dumbledore's face for a sigh that he might believe him but he found non. He turned around and began to run down the hall, he heard Fudge yell for someone to stop him, but as Harry reached the end of the tables he disappeared in a shower of bright light.

Harry sat staring at Muscari waiting for him to speak, he didn't have to wait long however, " But way wouldn't they believe you? What happened after that? Are they still looking for you?" Muscari's voice was full of surprise and curiosity. Harry smiled and knew it would be easier to answer him. " Well I orbed out of the hall and to a muggle village some were in London, then I walked around for a bit trying to make sense of things, eventually I orbed here. The last I heard they were still looking for me, I use to orb to a muggle village where I found out a family of wizards live and managed to get some of there papers, for months afterwards they were full of stories about how I was dangerous, there was even a reward put out by the order all the people I thought were my friends my family they all want me dead, the last I heard the aurors had been told to kill me if they saw me. I never went out of the forest after that so I don't know what has been happening. I guess that will change tonight though, tomorrow we head to Hogwarts, to help in the war and I have to face my betrayers. I knew they wouldn't believe me because all they ever saw me as was someone who was going to end the war, someone who would save them all."

Muscari was silent for a while " what's orbing?" His question surprised Harry so much he couldn't answer at first, he had expected more questions but not this one, " well orbing is means you can go from one place to another, any were in the world, in or out of magical barriers, that's why I could do it in Hogwarts I don't know how I learned to do it but I looked it up and apparently most of the male side of my family could do it, apart from my farther who never learned, I only can because my life was In danger and I was wandless. That's how I got here I was trying to think of a place were I would be safe and I suddenly orbed here, I tend to use my animungus form if I need to go out of the forest." Harry had learned to become an animungus shortly after arriving in the forest; one of the older elves had helped him. All the elves had been helpful and patient as it had taken slightly longer for Harry to complete his training, when Harry had asked why the elves believed him lord Zea had said that anyone could see that Harry could never turn evil as there was to much good in him, this had cheered Harry up slightly and made him more determined to help protect the elves more then ever. So Harry had joined the guards and had not used his magic in over two years, but he knew he would have to when he returned to the wizarding world. But he was no longer the small boy he had been then, although he was only seventeen he was almost as tall as Muscari, which was taller then most wizards, his black hair was still floppy but manageable and highlighted with five dark purple streaks. He no longer wore glasses as his eyesight had improved, as he had gotten older. Harry had changed and he knew no could ever say he looked like his farther now.

Harry and Muscari sat in the clearing until it started to get dark, a bell sounded from the village signalling everyone to the main hall. Harry felt as though he was carrying a heavy weight as he walked towards the main hall. When they reached the door he pursed, when he felt Muscari give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze he took a deep breath and walked towards through the door. All eyes were on them as they walked towards front of the hall to join the queue in front of the lord and lady. The elves would be travelling by their version of floo powder, straight in to the forbidden forest in the Hogwarts grounds. Harry tried not to think about what might happen as he waited for his turn.


	3. home?

Thanks for the reviews they were really encouraging. I don't own any of the hp characters I am only using them I do own the elves and some apples.

Home?

Harry arrived in the forest at midnight; he waited a minute or two for Muscari to come through the passage before he took a good look at his surroundings. They were standing in a clearing, in the middle of the forest. Unlike the elven forest, the forbidden forest was dark and covered in a faint mist. Harry knew from past experiences that the forest was full of magical creatures both good and evil, the unicorns and centaurs were o.k. but there were also giant spiders and werewolves that were best left alone. Harry remembered all to well the time he had met Voldemort in the forest, he would have been killed if it hadn't been for the centaur Firenze, who had turned up just in time and saved his life.

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder, turning he met the worried eyes of Muscari. Harry shook his head and went to help the others who were busy making the clearing suitable to live in. The elves used their magic to build houses in the trees surrounding the clearing and made a small pool of water appear so they would be able to drink and wash. Harry helped Muscari to create a house that was big enough for the both of them to live in, as lord Zea had announced that each elf would have to share with another in order to save room, because they did not know the forest well they did not want to spread out to much. As it was the first time he had used his magic in two years Harry found himself quickly growing tired but he tried not to show it, grateful when they had all finished and were dismissed to get some rest. It took Harry a while to climb the ladder but when he had made it to the top he was surprised to find that Muscari, who had reached the house ahead of him, had already made both of their beds and was laying down on his own asleep. It was only when Harry was laying comfortably on his bed that he realised, Muscari as well as most of the other elves would have noticed how tired he was getting, in fact thinking back the other elves had done most of the work, only letting him do small amounts he had just been too tired to notice. Harry decided not to think about it for now, he thought he would have trouble sleeping because of what would happen when he woke up he was asleep within minutes of his realization and for the first time in two years he didn't have any nightmares.

When Harry woke up, he found Muscari's bed empty, looking out the door he saw it was well in to the afternoon. He hurriedly changed in to some fresh clothes and walked to the ladder. When he had reached the clearing he found the elves sitting around the small pool eating, most were talking quietly but some sat in silence, Harry knew these were the guards listening for approaching danger. He quickly located Muscari who was sitting talking to a female elf, nether noticed him as he sat down, they were to busy talking. Harry grinned as he remembered who the elf was, her name was Felicia, she was also one of the guards, tall, with long red hair she was very well trained and very pretty, Muscari had had a massive crush on her for as long as Harry could remember, but he was to shy to tell her. Harry was still grinning when Felicia got up and left, Muscari continued to ignore Harry, sitting with a dazed look on his face until Harry leaned over and hit him over the head causing Muscari to yell in surprise. Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw that the others were looking at them, Harry laughed out right and getting up he walked over to the edge of the clearing, he stood facing the direction he knew Hogwarts to be. Harry thoughts grew troubled again, he hated not knowing what was going to happen, he knew he was to use the elven name he had been given but he to help hide who he was, but he couldn't help think what would happen if he walked in there and they all recognised him. He heard someone approaching him and turned to find Muscari with a not so happy look on his normally handsome face. However it was quickly replaced with a worried look when he saw and felt how sad and worried Harry was. Muscari placed his hand on his shoulder and waited for Harry to tell him what was wrong, Harry managed a small smile before he began. " I guess im just worried in case I walk in there and they all recognise me, I mean I still have my mothers eyes, and doing a spell to cover my scar every morning is going to be hard. My elven name will only hide me for a while. What happens when they realise who I am? What will I do then?" he was surprised when Muscari laughed softly, seeing Harry stare at him in amassment Muscari began to explain, " you are so dramatic, they will not recognised you and even if they do what can they do? If they don't believe you are innocent then its there problem, you are here to help, if they wanna kill you then they will have to get through me and every other elf here just to get to you and believe me it isn't easy to kill an elf. Every elf here loves you and they will not see you get hurt in any way, and any way we're not going to Hogwarts until tonight anyway." The last bit confused Harry and after staring at him with a puzzled look Muscari laughed again and continued. "If you hadn't been so lazy you would have been with the rest of us when lord Zea explained that because it is the Halloween tonight that is when we will head up to Hogwarts. Imagine their surprise when they are calmly eating their food laughing and talking when a thousand elves suddenly march through the doors. No doubt they will try to attack us but we shall prevent that, and if that happens I will personally knock out a few of them on your behalf." With a final loud laugh Muscari ran back towards the others, Harry couldn't help but laugh as well, he had nothing to worry about Muscari was right the elves cared about him as much as he cared about them and there was no way anyone would recognise him as long as he was careful. Felling more cheerful he began to walk back to Muscari who was busy dancing with some other elves.

Muscari's prediction turned out to be right, apart from knocking people out. Just after eight the group walked out of the forest and up the slope towards the castle. The younger elves gasped at the sight but Harry hardly paid attention, he and Muscari brought up the rear of the group. Every step he took his legs felt more and more like led, his heart beat quickening. When they reached the steps and had climbed in to the entrance hall Harry froze to many memories good and bad were coming back to him, it was only when Muscari gave him a light push that he felt ready to follow the others in to the hall. When he entered the hall Harry quickly moved over to stand around the edges of the hall with the others, he closed his eyes for a moment before looking around. The hall was just the way he remembered, thousands of candles levitated over the four house tables pumpkins so big Harry could sit comfortably in side of one, were sat in every corner. The students were looking around their food forgotten, their eyes swept over the elves was relived to se that no one paid him a second glance. The teachers were all looking at Dumbledore who was talking to lord Zea and lady Nerine, then as Harry's eyes took in the familiar sights, the people he had known or thought he had known he caught sight of a familiar pair at the end of the Gryffindor table, Ron and Hermione sat together, there betrayal had hurt the most and Harry felt his breath quicken, at the memory he would hyperventilated until Muscari grabbed his hand and began to fed him energy. When they had finished talking Dumbledore turned away from lord Zea and began to talk to the students whose attention was immediatly drawn to the teacher's table. " I would like to introduce the elves from the forest Leptosiphon they are here to help in the war and will be staying in the forbidden forest but will also be moving around the castle and grounds. I would like you to welcome lord Zea and lady Nerine and the other elves." The students began to clap enthusiastically as most of them had never heard of elves, they were happy for the help in the war, no matter who it came from. The clapping stopped when lord Zea stepped forwards, " thank you for the warm welcome. If any one has any questions or problems then feel free to talk to us, also I hear you need a defence against the dark arts teacher and if it is ok with you I would like to suggest one of my elves, Eranthis would you come here please." Harry froze, he was suppose to keep a low profile and here was lord Zea saying he would teach, Muscari stopped the energy feed and pushed him forward. Feeling sure he would be recognised Harry slowly walked towards the head table until he was stood next to the lord and lady, standing in front of every one he had considered family, Hagrid, Dumbledore, McGonagal they were all there all looking at him he could even see Snape looking at him with curiosity. Dumbledore looked him up and down before nodding and telling him they would be delighted to have him as a teacher and that he should come to the teachers meeting in the morning so that they could feel him in with every thing that had happened. Harry could only nod and after being dismissed by lord Zea he walked back to his place the feeling of dread he had felt earlier had some how doubled.


	4. Professor Eranthis

Professor Eranthis

" How the hell can he do this to me, there is no way in hell I am going to teach a class. I'm seventeen years old, what the hell am I supposed to teach them?" Harry knew he was yelling and that half of the forest could probably hear him but he didn't care, he was supposed to go up to the school for the meeting at half six which gave him just over an hour to get ready. Harry turned to glare at Muscari, he knew it was unfair to yell at him but he had to get it out of his system, not that Muscari cared he simply leaned against the wall, looking at Harry in a smug kind of way. "Do you realise you used hell three times in that sentence?" he ducked as Harry tried to hit him, which resulted in Harry's hand connecting with the wall, as he moving over to the opposite side of the room, he settled him self on to floor before continuing. "You should really stop worrying before you do your self an injury. You saw what happened last night, you were standing right in front of them and no one notice anything, as long as you don't let your guard down to much you'll be fine. As for what to teach them, find out what they already know and go from there, teach them to protect them selves and to survive this war, you're a elven warrior it won't be that hard." Harry nodded and walked over to where Muscari was sitting, he now felt extremely guilty for yelling at him. " I know your right, but being back at Hogwarts is driving me mad, I cant help but think i should be in my final year being taught not teaching, seeing everyone last night everyone I had once considered family, its not fair why should I be the one who has to go through all this? why should I help them? Your right I'll be fine, no one will notice who i really am as long as i kept my guard up, But then comes the problem of what will happen when i have to tell them who I really am, they think im a murder, how could i ever forgive them for that?" Muscari answer was to pull him in to a tight hug, when Harry had calmed down he pulled back, he managed a small smile before moving to finish getting ready.

After checking the spell to hid his scar was in place and making sure he looked perfect several times and having Muscari check twice, he was finally kicked out of the house, still not sure this was the best idea, Harry walked slowly to the castle, while he walked he did some deep breathing exercises that he had learned while he was training, the exercises calmed his thoughts and let his senses sharpen slightly. Upon finally reaching the castle he found he still knew his way around pretty well which meant he reached the staff room with a minute to spare. Having not met anyone on the way there, Harry was slightly surprised to find the room already full, but he quickly hit it and moved to stand in a corner, declining the chair that was offered with a slight shake of his head. Looking around Harry quickly realised, everyone in the room was slightly nervous, no one would meet his gaze, while Dumbledore began to read out the notices and to talk about the up coming year, Harry amused himself by timing how long it took each person to look away, most looked away after only a second, until he looked at Snape, after a minute Snape smirked in a knowing fashion before he looked away, Harry continued to stare at him for a few minutes trying to work out why he was looking so smug, before he turned his head to look at the person sitting on Snapes left and found him self looking straight at Remus Lupin, if that wasn't surprising enough sitting next to him was Sirius Black. The years had not been kind to ether of them both looked older then Harry remembered, Lupin was dressed in his usual ripped robes, Blacks robes looked no better. As he was looking at them, the dread Harry had felt earlier, slowly turned to anger, the two people he had thought might have believed him, after what had happened to Black, had betrayed him along with everyone else. Suddenly realising the room was quite and everyone was now looking at him, Harry tried to calm him self down, briefly wondering how often he would have to calm him self while he was here. Dumbledore's voice suddenly broke through the silence; " I guess you are wondering why we have two extra staff, well because of the war occasionally some of the staff have to go out of school, when they do Remus and Sirius take over the classes. Also I don't know what you have heard about ether of them but I can assure you that Remus is perfectly harmless and Sirius is innocent and was freed about a year ago, you may have already heard this but it was after some death eaters were caught, that was the same time we realised that Harry Potter was innocent and that we had mad a huge mistake." The last part of his speech immediatly caught Harry's full attention; they knew he was innocent, but how? Most of the teachers were looking sadly at one another, except Snape who was once again looking straight at Harry. Harry decided it was best not to say anything or to think about it all until he could talk to Muscari, after all it might be a trap that had been set up in order to give him a false sense of security, just in case he might know were Harry Potter was, if that was the case then it would be harder then he thought to pretend he wasn't Harry. All this was giving Harry a headache, he was wary just in case it was a trap, but curious because it might not be, if that was the case then he wanted to know when they had realised he was innocent and why he had not heard about it. He defiantly needed something for his headache before he taught class. He was brought out of his thoughts but the teachers, who were starting to stand on by one and gather their things, tilting his head nearer to the wall; Harry could hear the students moving around in the corridor. Not wanting to go to the hall with the other teachers, Harry waited until no one was looking; then he slipped quietly out the door and walked quickly to the defence classroom. Once again trying to calm him self.

Harry leaned against the board, as he watched the first years take their seats. Most looked at him in amassment, while others whispered to their friends, while shooting him nerves glances. Harry waited until everything was quiet, before he walked to the front around the desk and lent against the front. When he was sure all eyes were on him he began to address the class, " My name is Eranthis, you may call me professor if you wish, but it is not necessary. It is halfway through your first term and I do not know what happened to your teacher or what he taught you. As this is your first lesson with me and no doubt the first time any of you have been any were near an elf, we will use to days lesson answering any questions you may have, as long as they are not to inappropriate. Next lesson we will start work. We will go around the room and each of you can ask something, if at the end anyone has another question then I will do my best to answer it. When you ask your question I would also like you to tell me your name. So who wants to go first?" nobody moved, Harry waited patiently knowing that they were still slightly nervous. Finally one bold student put her hand up. Harry gave her an encouraging smile and asked what her question was. " My name is Hayley. I was wondering why don't you look like the other elves?" Harry hadn't expected this to be the first question asked although he was expecting it. He was suddenly unwillingly reminded of Hermione who had always been quick to spot things others didn't. Shaking his head to get rid of the thought, Harry thought about his answer and how much he could get away with telling them, " Your right I don't look like the others. That's because im not an elf although I was raised by the, I live with the elves and do everything else like the elf's the only difference is I keep my hair short and I have highlights to show others that I am a wizard with elven training." There were a few minutes of silence were nobody moved, then the rest of the class, encouraged by the first question, raised their hands. Harry smiled; it was going to be a long day.

The rest of Harry's morning classes continued like the first and soon every one was talking excitedly about the class and their new professor. Those who had not had defence that morning ate dinner quickly in order to get to the classroom. Harry had decided to stay in the class room instead of having to face the hall, he was also surprised to find he actually enjoyed teaching, he couldn't help but feel slightly at home in the classroom, that was until he looked at the timetable that had been stuck to the desk, his last class of the day was seventh year Gryffinders and Slytherins.


	5. the truth hurts

The truth hurts.

hey sorry not up dated for ages but have been really busy at college and moving house, but will hopefully be updating as soon as I can. Thanks for all the reviews. Xx

There was five minutes until the start of the next class and Harry was beginning to panic, he knew that coming back was going to be hard but he hadn't expected to have to deal with the people he had considered friends on his very first day. Harry didn't think he could face it, but what else could he do, he couldn't just leave, then he had an idea, running to the door he looked out into the hall way and made sure nobody was around, then locking the door he pictured the forest in his mind and a second later he felt the familiar pull as he orbed. Harry landed in the clearing next to a small group of young elves, who screamed and jumped back, Harry shot them an apologetic smile adnd ran over to Muscari who was having a conversation with some of the healers. Although Muscari had his back to Harry he turned around and walked towards him, Muscari greeted Harry with his normal grin, which quickly disappeared when he saw how stressed Harry was, before Muscari could say anything Harry had grabbed his hand and orbed them both into his class room. Looking over at Muscari Harry immediately felt guilty, orbing obviously hadn't agreed with him, they stood looking at each other for a minute before Muscari nodded his head to show that he understood what the problem was and after giving Harry a quick hug he walked to the back of the class room and sat in the corner where he wouldn't be seen.

Harry was once more leaning against his desk when the seventh years entered and took the seats, he watched them whilst the unpacked their things and got settled. Harry recognised Neville longbottom sitting next to Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, at the next table were Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, Harry hardly recognised the Slytherins, in fact both of the houses looked as though most of the students were missing Harry hoped that this was because their parents had taken them out of the school. Looking at the back row Harry noticed Draco malfoy sitting with a Slytherin that Harry didn't recognise and then Harry spotted Ron and Hermione, the two people Harry had trusted the most and the ones who's had hurt him the most, they looked the same as ever although both looked tiered and worn out, they were sitting close together, it seemed that they had finally gotten together after all. Harry felt a pang of jealousy at this, why should they be happy when he could never be, not that his time with the elves hadn't been happy, but he could never be truly happy, he could never rest until this war was over, it wasn't fair they could get on with their lives and he never could, they were his friends yet they had turned on him made him a wanted man, told the papers everything they knew in order to help the ministry catch him, he couldn't do this not yet, looked up at Muscari who had half risen from his chair, Harry shook his head and then ignoring the shouts from his class he turned and ran from the room.

Harry was surprised to find that he still knew his way around the castle really well, he walked up and down the many hall ways and stairs thinking, they had all turned on him and yet Dumbledore had said that they had been wrong that they knew he was innocent but how? And why didn't they believe him in the first place? Harry heard the bell signalling the end of lesson and the start of dinner, he knew that as a teacher he was supposed to eat in the hall but no doubt the rumours of his last lesson had already spread so instead he walked back to the entrance hall and made his way to the forest. When Harry entered the clearing he was immediately surrounded by the elves all asking the same questions of where he had been and what had happened, shrugging them of he made his way to his room, climbing the ladder he found him self face to face with Muscari and knew he was in trouble.

Harry and Muscari stood looking at each other before Harry suddenly found himself on the floor and realised with a start that Muscari had hit him. Before he could say anything Muscari started to pace in front of him shouting, "What the hell do you think you are playing at? I though you didn't want to attract attention to yourself? If running out wasn't bad enough then you go and disappear, any thing could have happened to you, you could have been hurt. What where you thinking?" Harry felt his anger rise he jumped to his feet and stood staring at Muscari "what was I thinking? What was lord Zea thinking asking me to teach? These people where supposed to be my friends and yet they just turn their backs on me as if I was nothing, I can do thins, I cant teach them not after every thing that has happened, I cant forgive them."

Harry and Muscari stood glaring at each other before Harry finally backed down, he wouldn't have normally but he hated fighting with any of the elves they had done so much for him and Muscari was his best friend, defeated he walked over to his bed and sat down, putting his head in his hands. After a while he felt Muscari sit next to him and the warmth as he sent healing energy through Harry's body. When Harry had finally clamed down Muscari spoke in a much softer voice, " I'm sorry for shouting, but we were worried, you can just disappear like that you could get hurt, theirs something else as well I talked to the staff and the reason that no one believed you was because Voldemort sent a death eater discused as you to Hogwarts that was who people saw kill, and voldemort also used some sort of spell to make every one doubt you, but for the spell to work there had to be some doubt to start with, the death eaters where caught and when questioned about you everyone found out the truth and have been looking for you for about a year." Harry was in shock why had they doubted him in the first place as far as he was aware he had never given them any reason to. Whilst trying to think Harry felt his head begin to hurt.


End file.
